How many boxers turn their Olympic gold medals into professional titles? | Sport | The Guardian The Queensberry rules How many boxers turn their Olympic gold medals into professional titles? Does the amateur success of double Olympic champion Zou Shiming suggest he will flourish as a professional boxer? Zou Shiming wins his second professional fight, against Mexico's Jesus Ortega, on points. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Patrick Connor for The Queensberry Rules, part of the Guardian Sport Network Thursday 8 August 2013 05.15 EDT First published on Thursday 8 August 2013 05.15 EDT Share on Messenger Close Name a few of the most difficult or loathsome professions in the history of history. Sin-eater, coal miner, chimney sweep. When the words "boxer" or "fighter" are tossed into the discussion, people might think of Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson and dismiss the idea. Those guys made armloads of money and commanded global attention while double-fisting drinks with little umbrellas in them and living it large, didn't they? The reality for most fighters is a low-income existence with not much to show for it in the end.

On top of that, they are punched in the face repeatedly for their efforts. How many fighters have their hand wraps taken off after their first serious sparring session and think "this seems like an easy way to not become rich"? A safe assumption is that, upon choosing to become a fighter, most have a hankering to be great. The sugar plum fairy dancing in the head of nearly every amateur fighter is Olympic gold drapery, and your average professional fighter's fairytale ends with winning a world title. Two-time Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming won his second professional fight against Jesus Ortega in Macau last weekend. While Zou could unlock a potentially enormous boxing market in China, one can't help but wonder what will come of his career. In 23 Olympic games featuring boxing (but not the 2012 Games , which are too recent to feature in this discussion), 893 medals have been awarded in total, with 229 golds going to 223 individuals, 38 of whom went on to win a recognised world-title belt. In other words, Olympic gold medalists have a 17 per cent chance of becoming a major belt-holder.

Through the first nine Olympic boxing games (1904-1952), only five gold medalists went on to win world titles in the professional ranks: Frankie Genaro, Fidel LaBarba, Jackie Fields, Pascual Perez and Floyd Patterson. The first 14 Olympics with boxing produced only 10 future titlists. The other 28 have all come since 1976 – the Olympics considered by many to be the highlight for US boxing. The Games in 1976 were also the first to produce more than two future titlists. Why, then, despite the fact that amateur boxing more resembled professional fighting at that time, do the Olympics seem to spit out future champions at a higher rate: more weight divisions and an easier road to winning a belt? A different type of promotion for gold medalists? Television? A gold medal wasn't much of a belt notch until Floyd Patterson followed up on his 1952 victory by capturing the vacant heavyweight title four years later.

In his second defence, he threw a bone to 1956 gold medalist Pete Rademacher in the latter's professional debut, and the large, honey-coloured pendant became just a tad more important to promotion. But the term "golden boy", specifically in reference to a former Olympic gold medalist in the paid ranks, was given a serious push when the likable Ray Leonard moved along quickly following his showing in 1976. The 1976 Games proved to be a watershed moment for Olympic boxing in more ways than one. The US won four gold medals, but came close to taking home six that year. The bronze winner at heavyweight, John Tate, would have been another number on the "future belt-holder" list. Maybe the value of a belt was cheapened a bit at that point, however. The US joined 64 other countries in boycotting the 1980 Olympics, and by the time the 1984 Games were done, Larry Holmes was a few months away from helping to legitimise a new sanctioning organization in the IBF. Every Olympics from 1976 to 2004 produced two or more future champions.

Yet another sanctioning body would emerge as worthy of consideration in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it is debatable whether or not the WBO had gained serious recognition when 1984 Italian "Golden Boy" Maurizio Stecca won the organisation's inaugural featherweight belt. Zou enters the realm of fighting for money at a time when there are more "legitimate" belts to win than ever. They range from regular to super, and even on to silver. There are more weight classes than ever and more multiple-division champions. If there were a great time for Zou to turn professional and hope to win a belt, it should be now. Even if the cynical view is correct, and Zou is simply a pawn in a game to attract Chinese viewers to the sport, he still has a serious amateur pedigree to consider. While great fighters such as Billy Conn, Dwight Qawi and Rocky Marciano had little or no amateur experience, thriving on an international stage in today's sport seems to be a better predictor of potential than not. It remains to be seen how dropping the headgear and reworking the scoring system change that dynamic.

Until the transition from the amateurs to the pros can be made easier and more seamless, a lingering skepticism will haunt the men and women who seek waistline immortality. In Zou's case, however, the doubt springs from a source called "reality". Even before he turned professional, Zou had an awkward, sneaky counterpuncher's style. Lost, though, is the sharp offensive craft of Joel Casamayor or even Amir Khan, and in its place is an array of wide hooks, eccentric uppercuts and questionable defence. A cocky foot shuffle when pegged solid may capture the attention of the crowd, but it won't singlehandedly win a professional bout in a fair world. At 32, Zou's somewhat advanced age will boost his career trajectory. As a flyweight, the current depth of the division could work for him, or the history of it could work against him . It's as if he is caught between the ease with which belts are seized upon in the current era, and the difficulty of winning and keeping a belt in such a division. Will he bump the likelihood of a gold medalist winning a belt up from 17 percent in the coming years?

It's possible, but if Top Rank is able to grab the attention of the Chinese market, will it matter? Oddly enough, Zou's pugilistic upbringing compares to that of children in general in today's hyper-connected age; every milestone is documented, uploaded, downloaded and shared. Should he keep winning, he may be the one of the first fighters to have every single one of his fights easily available on video. The consensus seems to be that Zou won't last into his belted days. Until then, it's a gamble.

Boxing at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Boxing at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games Date Started: July 28, 1952 Date Finished: August 2, 1952 Events: 10 Participants: 249 (249 men and 0 women) from 43 countries Youngest Participant: Edson Brown (17 years, 74 days) Oldest Participant: Sergey Shcherbakov (34 years, 40 days) Most Medals (Athlete): 40 athletes with 1 medal Most Medals (Country): Soviet Union (6 medals) Overview Boxing at the 1952 Olympics was held at the Messuhalli in Helsinki, which also hosted gymnastics and wrestling events. The Soviet Union entered the 1952 Olympics for the first time, but did not win any of the classes, although they did win two silver and four bronze medals. The tournament was dominated by the American boxers, who won five classes. One went to [Floyd Patterson] in the middleweight class, who would later become world professional heavyweight champion.

Patterson would lose that title in a match against Sweden’s [Ingemar Johansson], although Patterson would regain the title in a re-match one year later. Johansson also “medalled” in Helsinki, losing in the final of the heavyweight class to American [Ed Sanders]. Sanders turned professional after a short stint in the Navy, but in his ninth professional bout, he tragically died from injuries sustained during the fight. Now saying that the Soviets won four bronze medals and that Johansson won a silver medal rather over-simplifies the matter. In fact Johansson was initally not awarded a medal, because he was disqualified in the second round of the final bout for passivity. But Johansson eventually was awarded the medal by the IOC in 1982. In fact, no bronze medals were awarded in 1952. Previously there had always been a match between the losing semi-finalists for the bronze medal. And starting in 1956, and since that time, the losing semi-finalists would both be awarded bronze medals, as the boxing officials did not think it safe that the losing boxers met again only a day or two after their losing bout.

But in 1952, the Official Report stated, “As recommended by the AIBA, gold and silver medals only were awarded. The losers in the semi-finals were not, as previously, matched for bronze medals; instead, both were awarded diplomas. Their national flags were also hoisted at Victory Ceremonies. This decision in regard to medals afterwards gave rise to criticism.” This decision was made at the 2nd AIBA Congress in 1950 in København. In 1951, the IOC agreed to eliminating the match for bronze medals but specifically stated that no bronze medals should then be awarded. In early 1970 the Finnish Boxing Association proposed awarding bronze medals to the losing semi-finalists from 1952. The idea was supported by [Erik von Frenckell], Finnish IOC Member and Chairman of the 1952 Organizing Committee. The AIBA approved this and on 28 March the Finnish Olympic Committee wrote to [Monique Berlioux], with the IOC, asking for approval, which appears to have been tacitly given.

All 20 semi-finalists were invited to a ceremony in Helsinki but only six were able to appear, four of them the losing Finnish semi-finalists, along with [Günther Heidemann] of West Germany and [Boris Nikolov] of Bulgaria. Medalists A Sports Reference Site : About SR/Olympics | Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data Data provided by OlyMADMen , led by Hilary Evans, Arild Gjerde, Jeroen Heijmans, and Bill Mallon. Members: David Foster, Martin Frank, Jørn Jensen, Carl-Johan Johansson, Taavi Kalju, Martin Kellner, George Masin, Stein Opdahl, Wolf Reinhardt, Ralf Regnitter, Paul Tchir, Magne Teigen, Christian Tugnoli, Morten Aarlia Torp, and Ralf Schlüter. Sports Reference LLC and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee. Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Sports Reference LLC or .

Part of the The USA and the Olympic Games - Boxing News Boxing News June 3, 2016 BN Staff The USA and the Olympic Games But is the might of America declining at the Olympic Games, asks Chris Kempson The USA and the Olympic Games But is the might of America declining at the Olympic Games, asks Chris Kempson Action Images Don’t miss any action. Sign up for the free BN newsletter(s) here THE United States heads the all time boxing medal table at the Summer Olympic Games . One hundred and eleven in total, comprised of 50 gold, 23 silver and 38 bronze. The United States has been present at every Games since 1896, Moscow (1980) apart, and boxing was first introduced in to the Games programme in 1904. However in 1908 in Stockholm, boxing was not competed for, as at that time, Swedish law prohibited the sport. This particular article takes a look at some of the many medallists, mainly gold medallists, who went on to become world professional champions as well.

It is not imperative that a gold medal or indeed a medal of any colour will ensure professional boxing success or indeed a shot at one of the plethora of world titles which exist these days; but statistics and this article on American amateur boxers show that it is a great grounding for future ring success; which is not at all surprising to me and no doubt not to some others too. As we shall see some of America’s greatest amateur ring talent progressed to fantastic feats in the paid ring. No real coincidence I would suggest! At the St Louis Games in 1904, the US was the only country entered in the boxing event and it secured all nineteen medals, seven gold, seven silver and five bronze. Only eighteen boxers took part and bronze medals were not awarded in the fly, bantam and middleweight divisions However, controversy followed at these Games and in some respects often follows the sport today. About the 1904 event, four boxers each won two medals; Oliver Kirk (two golds), George Finnegan (gold and silver), Harry Spanjer (gold and silver) and Charles Mayer (also gold and silver). However, the fun doesn’t stop there.

A boxer named, Jack Eagan, sometimes referred to as Jack Egan, won silver at lightweight and also a bronze at welterweight. However, a year or so later it was discovered his real name was Frank Joseph Floyd and America’s AAU disqualified him for having boxed under an assumed and false name and requested the return of all his boxing trophies, including his two Olympic medals. Some very respected statistical sources have apparently and somewhat logically documented boxers from the Games moving up to assume Eagan’s medal silver and bronze slots; although the Official Olympic Boxing medal database for these Games still lists him as a silver and bronze medallist. (Did I hear someone just say “Only in America!”?) Well boxing entered the Games in a controversial and somewhat curious way. Things did, thankfully, quieten down, quite a bit as we shall see in subsequent Games. In 1908, the USA did not compete in the boxing events. They were back with a vengeance in Antwerp in 1920, netting three golds and one bronze. One gold medallist, flyweight, Frankie Genaro, went on to win the NBA flyweight crown.

Four years later in 1924, six medals were claimed, two gold, two silver and two bronze. Flyweight, Fidel LaBarba won gold and later became world flyweight champion. Jackie Fields, real name Jacob Finkelstein won gold at featherweight and later became a world welterweight kingpin. Fields at just sixteen years and 162 days, became the youngest boxer ever to win an Olympic gold medal. His record will never be beaten. However in view of the current higher age limit imposed these days on amateur boxers, another American, Leo Randolph is apparently, at present, the youngest ever Olympic gold medallist of the modern era. But more of him later on. Two silvers and one bronze became the medal tally in 1928. 1932, saw two golds and three bronze gained and bronze medallist, Louis Salica, at flyweight later became the NBA world bantamweight champion. Berlin in 1936 and London in 1948 were fairly modest Games medal wise for the USA, one silver and one bronze were achieved in Berlin and a mere silver obtained in the London “Austerity” Games in 1948.

Helsinki, Finland in 1952, saw five golds return “across the pond”, middleweight, Floyd Patterson announcing his own particular presence on the world boxing stage with a gold medal. Patterson has his own particular piece of professional boxing history in that he remains the youngest ever undisputed professional world heavyweight champion and he was a mere seventeen and-a -half years old when he won his gold medal. A little more on the late great Floyd, later on. Melbourne in 1956 saw two American golds and one silver medal. Middleweight Jose Torres gained silver losing out to the legendary Hungarian master, Laszlo Papp on points in their Olympic final. Torres went on to win WBC and WBA light-heavyweight crowns in the paid ranks. One of the gold medals went to heavyweight, Pete Rademacher who knocked out the Soviet Union’s, Lev Mukhin in the opening round. Later in his first professional contest, Rademacher met Floyd Patterson for the latter’s heavyweight crown. Although flooring Floyd “of the brittle chin” in the second round, Pete was knocked out in the sixth round.

What a strange mix two Olympic champions, one then a world professional heavyweight champion and the other the then reigning Olympic heavyweight champion, once more “only in America” as they say!! The next three Olympic Games, threw up arguably three of the greatest world heavyweight champions of all time. Cassius Clay won in Rome in 1960 at light-heavyweight, he was joined by two other American gold medallists and one bronze medal winner. Clay, who later became, Muhammad Ali is arguably the most well known and celebrated boxer of all time and in many peoples’ books the greatest boxer also. 1964 saw, Joe Frazier win the Olympic gold medal at heavyweight, there were three bronze medals achieved too. What can one say about the late great “Smokin Joe”, he was awesome in his prime and will never be forgotten, he will be remembered as one of the greatest world heavyweight champions of the modern era. If Clay and Frazier were not enough to whet ones boxing appetite, along in 1968 came George Foreman, who too won an Olympic heavyweight gold medal. America also won another gold medal and four bronze ones in Mexico City. Foreman too was an immense world heavyweight champion and will rightly be remembered thus.

1972 was the time of Marvin Johnson who won a bronze medal at middleweight, later win in the paid ranks, WBC and WBA light-heavyweight championships. USA won one gold and another two bronze medals at these Games. 1976 was a superb Games for the States with five golds, one silver and one bronze. These Montreal Games were the most successful for the Americans since Helsinki in 1952. Leo Randolph, Howard Davis Jnr, Ray Leonard, Michael and Leon Spinks, each won gold and Davis also was awarded the Val Barker trophy. A silver medal was also acquired and heavyweight John Tate won a bronze. All of the American gold medallists went on to box for and win world professional tittles and all succeeded with the exception of the late Howard Davis Jnr. Leonard and the Spinks brothers need no further introduction, but the least well known of the gold medallists, Leo Randolph who won at flyweight, won the WBA super-bantamweight crown.

He apparently is the current youngest Olympic gold medallist (with the existing entry structure) and the youngest retirement ever by a former professional world champion , losing his title three months to Sergio Palma, after taking the title from Ricardo Cardona. The Spinks brothers remain the only brothers to date, to both win both Olympic titles and World heavyweight crowns, although their Olympic triumphs were at middleweight for Michael and light-heavyweight for Leon. Bronze medallist, John Tate later won the WBA world heavyweight title. Not a bad return for the USA in 1976, although political ramifications prevented them competing when the Summer Games were to be staged for the first time in the then Soviet Union in 1980. Moscow in 1980 was boycotted by the USA and many other countries too, including a number of its western allies and friends, but not by Team GB. Then four years later in Los Angeles with a Soviet, Cuban and also a large mainly East European boycott in place, the USA had their best ever Games gold medal tally, They acquired nine out of the twelve gold medals up for grabs and also one silver and one bronze medal too.

A massive gold medal haul which is unlikely ever to be matched in the future. It might be easiest first to record the three gold medals which went elsewhere. They were at bantam, middle and light-heavyweight. So let us see where the medals went and how their owners fared later on in their individual careers. First up, Light-flyweight, Paul Gonzales went on to win the IBF bantamweight belt; Steve McCrory at flyweight failed to land a professional crown. Featherweight, Meldrick Taylor, won light-welterweight and welterweight world crowns, while the phenomenal southpaw, Pernell Whitaker won four different world titles from light-middleweight, welter, light-welter and lightweight. Light-welterweight, Jerry Page didn’t challenge for a paid world crown. Mark Breland at welterweight, won the paid welterweight crown twice, while light-middleweight, Frank Tate, later won the IBF world middleweight belt. Heavyweight, Henry Tillman is an interesting case, challenging but never winning a professional world title.

But he did meet his Olympic final heavyweight opponent as a professional in 1990, namely Canada’s Willie DeWitt, with DeWitt, prevailing this time on points. Tillman had won their Olympic duel, with all five judges awarding him the decision and the gold medal. Readers will recall that Wladimir Klitschko met and twice beat Tongan Paea Wolfgramm in first an Olympic final and later in the paid ring with no title at stake. I said in a previous article that I would endeavour to find a parallel with Klitschko; Wolfgramm and I have managed to deliver with Tillman and De Witt. I will continue to look for other examples and report back on my findings in due course. Tyrell Biggs became the first ever Olympic super-heavyweight champion , but never won a paid world belt, “Iron” Mike Tyson putting paid to that dream and ambition. Middleweight, Virgil Hill, won silver in the middleweight division, losing a very close judges decision (3-2) which went the way of South Korea’s Shin Joon-sup.

This did not deter Hill who went on to have a fabulously successful paid career winning WBA light-heavyweight, IBF and Lineal belts also in this weight category as well as the WBA cruiserweight title for good measure. This brings us to the one and only “Real Deal”, Evander Holyfield, who took a bronze in Los Angeles. Holyfield was controversially disqualified in the semi- final against the New Zealander, Kevin Barry. The American actually knocked out Barry, but the referee ruled that the punch came after he had called “stop”. Barry was subject then to the twenty-eight day suspension and the Olympic title went to Anton Josipovic (Yugoslavia) on a walk-over. Evander later became a colossus, both at cruiserweight and also at heavyweight, so a bronze medal did not affect his later ring career one little bit. 1992 was a much quieter Games for the USA, with three medals one of each colour. Gold went to lightweight star, Oscar De La Hoya, silver to Chris Byrd in the middleweight ranks and a bronze to Tim Austin at flyweight.

De La Hoya “The Golden Boy” had a phenomenal paid career winning ten world titles in six different weight categories, what more can be said about that, other than truly awesome. Byrd did alright for himself as well becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion and Austin won the IBF bantamweight crown, defending it many times. 1996 was another quiet Olympic Games, although six medals were won, one gold and five bronze. The gold went to light-middleweight, David Reid, who later won a WBA world crown at this weight. Of the five bronze medallists, the most famous and undefeated as a professional is Floyd Mayweather Jnr, who was subject to a very bad points decision which went in favour of Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov and had to settle for just that colour medal. He has had an unbelievably successful paid career, remained undefeated and among other championship credentials was a world champion in five weight divisions. A fantastically successful multi-champion and regarded by many as “the greatest boxer of his time”, and a view not too many would disagree with I believe. Mayweather announced his retirement from the ring in September 2015 after outpointing Andre Berto in yet another world championship encounter.

Lightweight, Terrance Cauthen received bronze and later won the IBU world super-welterweight championship as a professional. Middleweight, Rhoshli Wells got bronze and never boxed for a world title, very sadly he was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 2008, a young life cut short, what a loss for his family and friends. Heavyweight, Nate Jones also won bronze but did not box for a world crown, someone from 1996 who did eventually, was light-heavyweight, bronze medallist, Antonio Tarver who eventually won WBC, WBA and IBF world light-heavyweight championships. Athens in 2000, saw two silvers and two golds won by the USA. Ricardo Juarez took silver at featherweight and later became WBC Silver featherweight champion. Light-welterweight, Ricardo Williams also won silver, but never challenged for a paid world belt. Similarly, bronze medallist, Clarence Vinson at bantamweight, did not contend for world championship honours in the paid ranks.

However, light-middleweight, Jermain Taylor, also a bronze medallist, excelled in the professional code when he became the former and last middleweight champion claiming, IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Titles, beating the legendary Bernard Hopkins in 2005. 2004 saw another modest medal return, Andre Ward won gold at light-heavyweight and Andre Dirrell gained bronze at middleweight. Ward is a tremendous boxer, one of only a few men to defeat England’s Carl Froch. Ward, still undefeated as a professional, has won Ring Magazine, WBA (Super) and WBC super-middleweight titles. Dirrell who won bronze in Athens at middleweight, has not so far succeeded in winning world honours. He was beaten, in May 2015, in a world title bout by our very own James DeGale, a former Olympic gold medallist himself in Beijing in 2008 at middleweight. In 2008, it seemed that the American medal machine was running out of steam as a sole bronze medal was their only return.

It came via, heavyweight, Deontay Wilder, who is the current WBC world heavyweight champion. 2012 proved to be the turn of and the time for the ladies as they showed the American men the way to Olympic medal glory on this occasion. Ten male boxers from the States boxed in London and there was not one medal achieved, the first time ever that the men from the USA had drawn a blank at any Games that they have competed in as far as Olympic ring medals were concerned. However, two women rescued “Uncle Sam’s” reputation and here is a little bit about each of them. The United States thus having maintained their record of winning at least one and often many more Olympic ring medals in all of the Games that they have competed in. Women’s boxing featured in the London 2012 Games for the first time, three weights were contested; flyweight, lightweight and middleweight. Claressa Shields won the middleweight gold and Marlen Esparza gained a bronze in the flyweight category.

Shields beat Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova 19- 12 in their final, while China’s Ren Cancan beat Esparza 10-8 in their semi-final, with Team GB’s Nicola Adams outscoring the Chinese woman in the Olympic final to become the first ever woman gold medallist at the Olympic Games. So what does the medal future hold for the USA, especially their men in the ring. Is the American medal machine grinding to a summary halt or will they bounce back and be among the medals more regularly in future years? A fascinating question and I do not know the answer, time will tell, if the American glory days are now gone, or whether recent Games have just signalled a temporary blip. Perhaps Rio 2016 will give us some clues. The United States have six qualifiers for Rio, two of them women, so let’s sit back and see how they perform. American boxers have a great deal to live up to, will they be up to it in Brazil?

Boxing 101: Olympic history | NBC Olympics Boxing 101: Olympic history Tumblr From boxing's Olympic debut in 1904 to the addition of women's divisions in 2012, what were the sport's biggest highlights? Jump to a section: 1904 | 1908 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 St. Louis, 1904 The sweet science made its Olympic debut on the shores of the Mississippi, but there were not very many competitors, and no foreign athletes participated. As a result, Americans won all seven possible gold medals (and all other medals).

Oliver Kirk, victorious in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, is the only boxer in history to win two titles at a single Games. London, 1908 Reginald "Snowy" Baker of Australia was the only non-British boxer to win a medal, taking silver in the middleweight category. After losing the final on points to John Douglas, Baker complained that the referee had not been completely impartial. And Baker had reason to be suspicious - the referee was Douglas' father. The multi-talented Baker also competed in springboard diving and the 4x200m freestyle at the 1908 Games. Antwerp, 1920 Born in Cleveland, Ohio, welterweight Bert Schneider and his family moved to Montreal when he was 9. Schneider, who was unaware of boxing's place in the Olympic program, discovered he had been chosen for the Canadian team when he opened up the morning newspaper. He would go on to win gold. Share At the 1924 Games, Norway's Otto von Porat defeated Denmark's Soren Petersen for the heavyweight gold medal.

Credit: IOC Paris, 1924 The featherweight class featured a final bout with two Americans, Jackie Fields and Joe Salas. The two were best friends back in their native Los Angeles. Recalled Salas, "We had to dress in the same room. When they knocked on the door to call us to the fight, we looked up at each other and started to cry and hugged. Ten minutes later we were beating the hell out of each other." Fields won the bout, and the two remained lifelong friends. Amsterdam, 1928 Disputed decisions in Amsterdam led to brawls among spectators outside the ring. One notable scuffle involved 16-year-old American Hyman Miller, who was declared a surprise first-round loser in the flyweight class. An outraged U.S. boxing team sought to withdraw all of its competitors, but Major-General Douglas MacArthur, then-President of the U.S. Olympic Committee, wouldn't allow it, insisting "Americans never quit." Share Seven of the eight gold medalists from the 1932 Games are seen here. Standing: Alberto Lovell (ARG), Dave Carstens (RSA), Carmen Barth (USA), Eddie Flynn (USA).

Crouching: Laurie Stevens (RSA), Lefty Gwynne (CAN), Carmelo Robledo (ARG). Credit: IOC Los Angeles, 1932 American Edward Flynn took one of two U.S. golds, his coming in the welterweight division. Following the Olympics, Flynn turned professional with the goal of raising capital to finance his way through dental school. Eventually setting up a practice in Tampa, Flynn remarked on his days as a boxer, "I got kind of sick of putting on gloves and hitting some fellow in the face when I've got nothing against him." Berlin, 1936 South African lightweight Thomas Hamilton-Brown lost a first-round split decision, but got a second chance upon discovery that one of the judges had reversed his scores and that Brown actually was the winner. To take the edge off his initial disappointment, however, Brown went on an eating binge. Despite last minute attempts to sweat out the extra pounds, he was unable to make weight for his next fight and was disqualified. Share South Africa's George Hunter defeated Great Britain's Don Scott in a light heavyweight Gold Medal Match at the 1948 Olympics.

Credit: IOC London, 1948 Powerful southpaw Laszlo Papp made his Olympic debut and won the first of three successive Olympic titles. The Hungarian took home the middleweight crown in 1948 and earned light middleweight gold medals in 1952 and 1956, becoming the first man to win three Olympic boxing titles - the feat was later equaled by Cubans Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon. Papp, the first Soviet bloc fighter to compete professionally, once said, "I fight for money, but I am not greedy. How many steaks can one man eat?" Share Hungary's Laszlo Papp won his second of three gold medals at the 1952 Games. Credit: IOC Helsinki, 1952 17-year-old Floyd Patterson, one of 11 children from Brooklyn, New York, cruised through four bouts en route to the finals. In the gold medal match, Patterson knocked his opponent Vasile Tita out in 74 seconds with an uppercut to the chin.

Patterson would later go on to become the youngest heavyweight champion in the world (at 21) until Mike Tyson did it at the age of 20. Melbourne, 1956 American Pete Rademacher, a solider from Yakima, Washington, fought Soviet Russia's Lev Mukhin in the finals. Mukhin won all three of his bouts by knockout or TKO, and was a favorite heading into the Gold Medal Match. Yet Rademacher proved victorious, knocking down Mukin 50 seconds in, then twice more in the next 80 seconds. Rademacher would later go on to fight Floyd Patterson in his professional debut. Though he knocked Patterson to the canvas in the second round, he would lose the bout in Round 6. Share Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) stood atop the podium at the 1960 Olympics. Credit: IOC Rome, 1960 Winning light heavyweight gold at the 1960 Games, 18-year-old Cassius Clay took a first step toward becoming the most visible and quotable athlete in the world.

In Rome, Clay gave an early glimpse of his prowess in the ring and his comfort in front of a microphone, offering this answer to a Soviet journalist who asked the Louisville-native about segregation in the American South: "Russian, we got qualified men working on that problem. We got the biggest and the prettiest cars. We got all the food we can eat. America is the greatest country in the world, and as far as places I can't eat goes, I got lots of places I can eat, more places I can than I can't." Four years later, Clay - known as Muhammad Ali - won his first world heavyweight title. Share At the 1968 Olympics, George Foreman gave the United States its second consecutive heavyweight gold medal. Credit: IOC Mexico City, 1968 George Foreman, a greenhorn in boxing circles with only 18 matches under his belt, emerged from inner-city Houston to win the heavyweight gold medal.

After the Games, Foreman embarked on a professional boxing career that included a first world title in 1973, a spot opposite Muhammad Ali in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974, and an improbable championship in 1994 at age 45. Munich, 1972 Welterweight Emilio Correa - the 19-year-old Pan American champion - defeated European titleholder Janos Kajdi, 5-0 in a close but unanimous decision. (Correa's son, Emilio Correa Jr., won silver at the Beijing Games 36 years later.) The Munich Games also marked the debut of Teofilo Stevenson, who is detailed in the Moscow, 1980 history section. Montreal, 1976 "Sugar" Ray Leonard, a 20-year-old light welterweight from Maryland, pulled out a tough 5-0 decision against Cuba's Andres Aldama to win the gold medal. Leonard, fighting with photos of his girlfriend and their 2-year-old son pinned to his socks, was emotional afterward, announcing, "This is my last fight. My journey has ended.

My dream is fulfilled." Leonard changed his mind a few months later, turning professional and going on to win the welterweight world title in 1979. Leonard was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1980s, when he held titles in the welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. Moscow, 1980 Cuba's Teofilo Stevenson became just the second boxer (after Hungary's Laszlo Papp) to win three Olympic gold medals. Stevenson, a heavyweight who dominated in Munich and Montreal, failed for the first time to knock out an opponent when Hungary's Istvan Levai eluded the powerful Cuban throughout their semifinal bout. Stevenson, who'd won all nine of his previous Olympic fights by knockout, also went the distance in the final, defeating Soviet Pyotr Zayev by a 4-1 decision. Share After being disqualified at the 1984 Olympics, Evander Holyfield went on become the only four-time heavyweight world champion. Credit: IOC Los Angeles, 1984 With the mighty Soviets and Cubans boycotting, U.S.

boxers won 52 of 55 bouts - and nine gold medals - at the 1984 Games. One American who didn't triumph was light heavyweight Evander Holyfield, who was disqualified in his semifinal bout. The DQ, for hitting his opponent after being told to stop, was protested vigorously, but unsuccessfully. The loss relegated Holyfield to bronze, though few doubted that he belonged atop the podium. Gold medalist Anton Josipovic of Yugoslavia pulled Holyfield to the top of the podium during the medal ceremony. Seoul, 1988 Bedlam broke out in Seoul when the host nation's bantamweight, Byun Jong-Il, lost a disputed preliminary bout. The boxer's coach and assistant, joined by a group of rabid fans, rushed into the ring and roughed up referee Keith Walker of New Zealand, who had penalized Byun two points for butting. When the chaos subsided, Byun staged a 67-minute sit-down protest, eclipsing the unofficial Olympic record set by countryman Choh Dong-Kih in 1964.

(Choh had remained in the ring for 51 minutes after being disqualified from a bout in Tokyo.) In the aftermath of Byun's stunt, South Korean Olympic Committee President Kim Chong-Ha resigned, accepting full responsibility. Byun went on to fight professionally and in 1993 won the WBC bantamweight title. Barcelona, 1992 Oscar de la Hoya won America's lone boxing title in Barcelona, launching a brilliant career further studded by multiple world titles. De la Hoya, a Mexican-American from Los Angeles, dedicated his Olympic gold to his mother, who had died of cancer two years earlier. De La Hoya was raised on the sweet science - his grandfather, Vicente, was an amateur featherweight in Durango, Mexico, and his father, Joel, was a professional lightweight in Durango during the 1960s. Atlanta, 1996 With David Reid, America's lone boxing finalist in Atlanta, trailing 15-5 in the third round, it looked all but official that the U.S. would fail to win a boxing gold medal for the first Olympics since 1948.

But 36 seconds into the third round, Reid avoided a right hook from Cuban Alfredo Duvergel and landed one of his own to send Duvergel to the canvas for a knockout. The instant victory prompted a congratulatory hug from a famous observer - Muhammad Ali - who whispered in Reid's ear, "You're a baaaad boy." Reid also shared an emotional embrace with U.S. coach Al Mitchell, the fighter's personal coach from the beginning of his career. Sydney, 2000 Cuban Felix Savon, 33, claimed his third consecutive heavyweight crown to join former sparring partner and countryman Teofilo Stevenson as the only boxers to win three Olympic golds in one weight class. (Hungary's Laszlo Papp also won three titles, but in two weight classes). Having dominated the heavyweight division for nearly 15 years, Savon pummeled American Michael Bennett, 18-3, in a much-anticipated second-round bout. He later overcame a cut under his left eye in the final to cement his Olympic immortality.

Athens, 2004 After being shutout of the gold-medal hunt in Sydney, there were no major expectations of U.S. boxing entering these Games. But light heavyweight Andre Ward provided a golden moment. The 20-year-old from Oakland, who vowed beforehand "No silver, no bronze," stunned 6-foot-6 Russian world champion Yevgeny Makarenko in the quarterfinals. Ward, who like Makarenko had not lost a bout in five years, confused his burly opponent by switching from southpaw to a right-handed stance. Ward won a 17-15 decision over Utkirbek Haydarov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals, and came from behind after two rounds to decision Magomed Aripgadijiev of Belarus, 20-13, in the final. Beijing, 2008 In keeping with tradition, boxing at the Beijing Games was riddled with controversy. Flyweight Rau'shee Warren, competing in his second Games, entered as a favorite to take the division. In his first bout, Warren, thinking he was well ahead in points, spent a majority of the final round avoiding contact.

The judges disagreed, and the match went to Korean Lee Ok-Sung. Chinese Light Heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping took home gold after a 11-7 win in the final match over Ireland's Kenneth Egan. Multiple points in Egan's favor failed to be recorded, resulting in the controversial ending. Share The debut of women's boxing in 2012 featured the ascension of young American Claressa Shields. Credit: Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports London, 2012 In a milestone year for Olympic boxing, women's competitions were added to the program for the first time ever, allowing new stars to be born. Among them was 17-year-old American Claressa Shields , who won the women's middleweight division and became the youngest Olympic boxing champion since 1924. Ireland's Katie Taylor earned gold in women's lightweight and was one of the most popular fighters of the tournament, with a boisterous crowd cheering her on during every match. Great Britain's Nicola Adams won the other women's division, flyweight, and was one of three British fighters overall to earn boxing gold on home soil. Great Britain's three gold medals led all countries.

Share Anthony Joshua beats Charles Martin to become world heavyweight champion - BBC Sport BBC Sport Anthony Joshua beats Charles Martin to become world heavyweight champion By Ben Dirs BBC Sport at the O2 Arena 10 Apr Read more about sharing. Anthony Joshua's ascent to world champion is the fifth-quickest by any heavyweight Anthony Joshua stopped Charles Martin in two rounds at London's O2 Arena to claim the IBF heavyweight title in only his 16th professional fight. The Briton floored his American opponent with a peach of a right-hand counter and after Martin was knocked down again, the referee called a halt. The 26-year-old is his country's sixth bona fide heavyweight world champion. Joshua is also just the fourth man to win a pro heavyweight world title while still a reigning Olympic champion. And he is the first Briton to win both the super-heavyweight Olympic gold and a version of the world heavyweight title - London-born Lennox Lewis was fighting for Canada when he won the 1988 Olympic super-heavyweight title in Seoul.

Listen to BBC Radio 5 live's Mike Costello describe the closing moments of the fight Joshua's victory now brings a super-fight against fellow Briton and WBA and WBO champion Tyson Fury a step closer. Champion Martin, who was making the first defence of the title he won in January, entered the ring wearing a tall crown, a fur-trimmed, velvet cape and a smile as broad as his shoulders. But the smile soon disappeared. Some thought previously unbeaten Martin, 29, would trouble Joshua with his southpaw stance - he was the first left-hander Joshua had faced in the paid ranks - but he barely threw a punch in anger. Anthony Joshua needed less than five minutes to beat Charles Martin It took Joshua half of the first round to find his range but when he did, he landed with three or four big right hands that appeared to rattle the champion. The challenger staggered Martin with a sweet left hook early in the second, before a beautifully timed right put him on the seat of his pants. Martin rose at eight but after another massive right put him down again, referee Jean-Pierre van Imschoot counted him out on his feet, one minute and 32 seconds into the round.

Remarkably, Joshua now has 16 knockouts from 16 pro fights and has only boxed 34 rounds in total. His only fight to go past three rounds was a seventh-round stoppage of Dillian Whyte last time out. Joshua joins Ali in history books Joshua joins Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks as the only men to be professional heavyweight world champions while still reigning Olympic champions. Patterson won middleweight gold at the 1952 Helsinki Games and went on to beat Archie Moore to claim the vacant world heavyweight title on 30 November 1956 (Gennadiy Shatkov succeeded Patterson as Olympic middleweight champion in Melbourne just one day later). Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won light-heavyweight gold in 1960 before dethroning Sonny Liston in 1964; Spinks won light-heavyweight gold in 1976 before dethroning Ali in 1978, in only his eighth paid fight. While nobody has won a world heavyweight title faster than Spinks, Joshua surpasses Ali (20 fights), Lennox Lewis (22) and Mike Tyson (28).

Frank Bruno, Lewis, David Haye and Bob Fitzsimmons complete the list of Britain's heavyweight world champions. Herbie Hide and Henry Akinwande were WBO title-holders when the belt was not taken seriously by many of the elite fighters in the division. Former champion Frank Bruno was quick to congratulate Joshua after his victory Joshua v Fury next? The IBF belt was stripped from Fury when the Manchester boxer opted for a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko rather than a mandatory defence. Should Fury beat Klitschko in their rematch on 9 July, a blockbuster meeting between the two Britons would be inevitable. Also in the mix is former heavyweight world champion Haye, who returned to the ring with a first-round knockout of Mark de Mori in January and fights again next month. Fellow British world champion Tyson Fury was less than complimentary about Joshua's win

Question: Who was the first Olympic boxing gold medallist (middleweight in 1952) to go on to become heavyweight champion of the world?
Answer: Floyd Patterson